Think Piece-Dear New Zealand, don’t be a Blockbuster

By Ana Ika

Do you remember Blockbuster and Video Ezy? If you’ve only ever known Netflix, you might struggle to imagine the joy of pacing the aisles, picking snacks, and negotiating with your siblings over which DVD or VHS (if you are more seasoned in life) to rent. Those stores were once unstoppable but now they are nowhere to be seen.

Did you also know that Blockbuster had the chance to buy Netflix and walked away. They clung to the status quo while the future was speeding toward them.

Speaking of the future, the child poverty figures came out yesterday. Stats NZ reported that, for the year ended June 2025, there was no statistically significant change in the three primary child poverty measures. One in seven children in Aotearoa is still living in material hardship, and Māori and Pacific tamariki continue to face the highest deprivation.

We may not be falling backwards on paper, but we are certainly not moving forward.

The child poverty figures tell a stark story. Income-based poverty measures barely shifted overall, but material hardship increased, meaning more children are going without hot meals, warm houses, warm clothes or timely medical care. For Māori children, hardship climbed again. For Pacific children, all three poverty measures rose. These aren’t fluctuations. These are signals.

And at the Salvation Army we see those signals every day. Our centres supported almost 60,000 people with children this past year and that’s only those who came to us for welfare assistance. Behind every number are parents skipping meals so their kids can eat, whānau struggling to keep the lights on, and families who turn to us when every other door has closed. These pressures aren’t hypothetical. They are daily realities for many that walk through our front doors.

So, what does Blockbuster have to do with child poverty? Everything. Because the cost of ignoring the future is always paid later, with interest.

Imagine Aotearoa as a national investment fund. Nearly half of its assets (42% to be exact) are in a single portfolio. This portfolio holds a significant portion of the nation’s future returns: our skills, our workforce, our tax base, our resilience, our social cohesion. If this portfolio thrives, the whole fund thrives. If it fails, the whole fund is exposed.

Yet year after year,

· instead of strengthening this portfolio, the board watches it weaken:

· instead of adding capital, it quietly drains away.

· instead of reducing risk, it doubles down on disadvantage.

· instead of supporting growth, it hopes things will magically improve.

No investor would call that anything but reckless. And yet, that is exactly what we are doing with the next generation of New Zealanders.

Because in Aotearoa today, 42% of all children under 15 are Māori and/or Pacific.

The Blockbuster lesson is about missing the critical moment and short termism – the comfort of doing nothing today, hoping it won’t cost us tomorrow. But child poverty doesn’t quietly disappear. It compounds like interest.

· A child who grows up in overcrowded housing is more likely to get sick.

· A child who is hungry struggles to learn.

· A child in material hardship enters adulthood with fewer opportunities and more barriers.

Multiply that by 42% of our upcoming generation, and the long term consequences are profound.

This demographic shift is not something coming in the far distance. It’s already here. The children who we need to fill our apprenticeships, our universities, our health sector, our trades, our arts, our armed forces, our future leadership, they are, going to school hungry, living in unsafe conditions or lining up at foodbanks. Whether they thrive or struggle will determine whether Aotearoa thrives or struggles.

And here’s the part we often miss: demographic change can be one of our greatest national strengths. A young, diverse population should be an economic gift. Many countries in the OECD are desperate for the kind of demographic energy we naturally have. The question isn’t whether this shift is good or bad it’s whether we choose to back it with investment, or leave it to chance and if we don’t invest, we know what happens: those young people will jump across the ditch when the opportunity arises.

So, what does real investment look like? Not slogans or short-term fixes, but long-term structural moves that actually shift the dial: income supports that rise in real terms; housing policies that reduce the share of income going to rent; warm, dry homes; affordable nutritious food; reliable access to health care; affordable early childhood education; and removing barriers to training and employment pathways.

These aren’t luxuries. As a first world country these should be fundamentals. The most expensive option is doing nothing. We are paying for poverty either way. The only question is whether we pay for it upfront or with interest later.

If nearly half of our future depends on Māori and Pacific children, then child poverty is not just a social problem it is the central economic challenge of our time. And the longer we fail to invest, the more we undermine the prosperity we claim to be building.

You can’t grow a strong nation on an undernourished future.

No investor would accept that logic.

Neither should we.

I wonder where Blockbuster is now.

There’s only one Blockbuster left – a nostalgic memorabilia stop for tourists to take a stroll down memory lane.

A reminder of what happens when you ignore the future until it’s too late.

Dear New Zealand, don’t be a Blockbuster.